Hawk's Holiday
by LokiLeysmith
Summary: General Hawk has been more than a little on edge lately, and the consequences could be disastrous for the Joes. So Duke and the others send Hawk on a much deserved holiday where fun, adventure, and romance ensue.
1. Chapter 1

** Hawk's Holiday.**

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters but I wish I did. Hasbro Inc owns them, and Devils Due Publishing is publishing their books. Don't bother suing me because suing broke people is so counter-productive. This story is set in the comic continuity.

Chapter 1: Headaches.

Conrad "Duke" Hauser was not having a good day. It started with him tripping over something when he got up, continued with him slipping and falling in the mud during morning PT, then he cut himself shaving, and then he got chewed out by his CO over some budget troubles. And it wasn't even 11:30 AM yet. Duke was sitting in his office dreading what the rest of the day was going to be like when the phone rang. He contemplated not answering it, but he figured that it would make things worse, so, with a reluctant sigh, he picked up the receiver.

"Duke here." He said.

"Duke? It's Lifeline. Could you come down to the infirmary for a moment, please? Psyche-Out and I need to talk to you regarding a somewhat delicate situation."

"Can't we discuss this over the phone?" Duke asked the Chief Medical Officer.

"I'd rather not, Duke. Like I said it is a matter of some delicacy. Not to mention urgent." Lifeline stated.

Sigh. "Ok, Lifeline. I'll be there in a few minutes."

_5 minutes later, in the infirmary…_

Duke walked into the infirmary office and met with Lifeline, the Joes' CMO, and Psyche-Out, the Joe Physiologist. They both looked a bit apprehensive about something. _"This can't be good." _ Duke thought, a headache already starting to form.

"What's going on guys?" Duke asked.

"Well, we just finished up the quarterly psych evaluations on the whole team, and one member in particular has us worried." Psyche-Out replied.

"I thought you said Shipwreck was too far gone for anything short of a frontal lobotomy?" Duke tried to make a joke out of it, but the two Doctors' expressions brought him up short.

"Well, the thought had occurred, but this is a bit more serious, considering who it is. All things considered this particular member's, ah, problems, could have serious consequences for the rest of the team." Lifeline stated, while absently cleaning his glasses.

"So, who is it?" Duke's headache was starting to get worse.

Lifeline, and Psyche out fidgeted and hesitated briefly before Lifeline said: "General Hawk."

"Ah, ok," Duke's headache intensified. "Well he has been under a bit of stress. Nothing unusual, all things considered. What with running the show, and dealing with the bozos in Washington." _"Ok, that was lame." _Duke thought.

Lifeline thought so too. "I realize, he's been stressed out, but he has been getting more and more aggravated lately. A few of the other Joes have commented on it as well. Wide Scope thought that Hawk was going to shoot his dog, Lamont, after Lamont got, well, overfriendly with Hawk's leg. He tore a strip off of Alpine after discovering a few minor miscalculations in the monthly budget report. He threatened to send Daemon and Firewall back to prison when he discovered them downloading music videos while on duty. Not to mention blasting Mainframe for allowing them to do it. Beachhead got a bit worried when Hawk got a bit angry during a meeting and crumpled up a coffee cup and tossed it across the room before storming out."

"He tossed a Styrofoam cup across the room and this worries Beachhead?" Duke asked, incredulously.

"It was a ceramic cup." Psyche-Out replied.

"Oh. Anything else?"

"Yeah. Hawk caught Clutch and a few others from the Motor Pool, trying to pull off some ridiculous prank on the ladies, and, well I'll let you judge the results for yourself." Lifeline hit the intercom button, "Clutch? Could you step in here for a moment? Thanks."

Clutch, the head mechanic and driver, stepped into the office a minute later, wearing an unhappy expression on his face and a "Candy Stripers" apron over his coveralls.

"Hi Duke." Clutch mumbled miserably.

"Err, hi Clutch. Thanks for stopping by. Dismissed." Clutch shuffled out. "You want me to talk to Hawk about putting him back on duty?"

"Yeah, as a Candy Striper, he makes a good mechanic. But the point is Hawk is slowly going nuts, and it is starting to affect his performance. What happens if he loses it in front of a budget appropriation committee, or worse the Secretary of Defence or even the President?" Psyche-Out stated.

Duke winced. "Hawk would be drummed out of the service, and the Joes would be shut down. For good this time." This was really becoming a long day. His head felt like there were several dozen people doing the rumba in it.

"What do you want me to do?" Duke asked.

"Well," Lifeline reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a handful of travel brochures and handed them to Duke. "We want you to convince Hawk to go on a vacation."

"We figured as Second in Command, you would have a better chance of getting Hawk to agree with our request." Psyche-Out added.

Duke sat there and thought for a moment. "You will of course put this in writing?" he asked.

"Of course." They replied in unison.

"Good. I'll do it then." _"And I'll be damned if I try to do this alone. I'm going to need help on this one." _ Duke thought.

"One last thing: do you have some Advil? I have one hell of a headache."


	2. Chapter 2

** Hawk's Holiday.**

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters but I wish I did. Hasbro Inc owns them, and Devils Due Publishing is publishing their books. Don't bother suing me because suing broke people is so counter-productive.

This story is set in the comic continuity.

Chapter 2: Meetings.

"You want us to what?" Flint asked loudly.

Duke had gathered a small group of co-conspirators in his plan to get Hawk to go on vacation. Flint, Lady Jay, Spirit, and Beach Head were on one side of the table. Scarlet, Snake Eyes, Stalker, and Psyche-Out were on the other. This group made up the most of the command staff of GI Joe, and most of the people closest to Hawk.

"I want you to help me convince Hawk to go on a vacation for his health and well being. Not to mention the rest of the team's." Duke replied with a slight smile. "I figured if this group couldn't, no one could."

"Well I'm all for it," Scarlet said enthusiastically." Hawk's been under a lot more strain than usual. What with the Jugglers continually breathing down his neck, Cobra getting more and more brazen in their efforts, and of course being the administrator of this particular nuthouse didn't help matters much. I don't think even Snake-Eyes here could handle all of that without snapping."

Snake Eyes nodded in agreement. I concur, he signed.

"I am in agreement as well. All of us need our rest sometimes. Especially our leader who carries a burden far greater than any of us." Spirit intoned.

"Uhh, yeah. What he said. I agree." Stalker said.

"Count me in as well." Lady Jay said.

"All right, in for a penny and all of that. I'm in." Flint said.

"I guess I'm in as well," Beach Head said. "That scene in my office with the coffee mug was bad enough. I'm sure we all need a repeat of that 'Mentok' mess from a few months ago."

There was a collective groan from around the table, and Lady Jay put her head down on the conference table. The incident the team's Command Sergeant Major referred to occur after Hawk fell down a few flights of stairs one day at the PIT. He had aggravated his back and was laid up in bed for days. Lifeline had prescribed him some medication that would help with the pain, but he cautioned Hawk that it could have some odd side effects like delirium, or just plain acting silly. Firewall, one of their new computer techs gave him a gift to help him pass the time. She had copied onto DVD, a cartoon series called Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law. It featured a bunch of characters from the Hanna-Barbara stable of characters acting in rather odd ways and ending up needing the services of the title character. Hawk admitted that he was a fan of these old cartoons and Firewall thought that he would enjoy this. He watched it and thought it was the funniest thing he had seen in awhile. He then made the mistake of watching it again after taking his pills with a cup of coffee. Big mistake.

Hawk suddenly started acting like a few of the characters, notably one called Mentok-The Mind Taker. This character tended to make entrances accompanied by coloured smoke and dramatic music. He also tended to say things like "I, Mentok" or "Mentok commands you!"

Hawk went around the PIT ordering anyone within sight to do various things like "Go forth and bring me Krispy Krème Doughnuts! Mentok commands it!" or "I, Mentok command you to smite evil!"

It was worse for Lady Jay because she was acting as Hawk's aide at the time. The General kept calling her "Peanut" after a minor character on the show. Hawk was eventually restrained gently and put back to bed. The only consequences of this were that a lot of the Green Shirt recruits were intimidated enough by Hawk's manner and rank (an E-4 recruit can't exactly disobey a 3-Star General, no matter how oddly the General is acting) that there were over 25 large boxes of doughnuts in Hawk's office a few days later. He kept one box and had the rest sent down to the recreation room. Lady Jay (not to mention the rest of the command staff) thought she would need a sedative.

As a result Lady Jay would nearly kill anyone who called her "Peanut", her husband Flint included. And anyone who mentioned the incident to Hawk would find himself or herself cleaning latrines, sometimes with a potato. An act, which is physically impossible as most of the people in the room could attest to since Hawk, didn't discriminate between command staff and raw recruits on this subject.

"Ok since we are all in agreement then, this leads to a few questions: 1) how are we going to convince him. And 2) where can we suggest that Hawk goes to for his vacation?" Duke said.

As a few suggestions like Hawaii and Paris, or fishing trips were being floated around, there was a knock at the door. Duke, frowning because he had told the Green Shirt down the hall not to interrupt them unless Cobra attacked, went and opened the door. General Hawk was standing in the doorway. Everyone jumped out of their seats and stood at attention each with a "deer in headlights" look on his or her face.

"What in Sam Hill is going on in here?" Hawk growled. "The Green Shirt down the hall told me not to interrupt a Command Staff meeting unless there was an emergency! Last time I looked I was the Commanding Officer of the GI Joe team! What the hell are those! Travel brochures? Are you all planning a vacation together and wasn't planning to tell me? Well?"

A chorus of "No, no Sir! We can explain!" was the reply. Hawk pushed past Duke and sat down at the end of the table. He didn't invite the others to sit down. "I'm waiting!" he growled.

Duke cleared his throat nervously "Well sir, we, as in the whole team, have noticed that you have been under a lot of stress lately. What with the budget headaches and the Jugglers and everything else going on."

"Tell me about it." Hawk muttered. "Go on." He waved for the others to sit down again.

"We figured that you really need a holiday. Just to get away from this place for a few days. For your health." Duke said.

"Not to mention ours." Flint muttered. Lady Jay kicked him in the shin under the table.

Hawk sat there silently for several minutes. The others braced themselves for an explosion. Finally he said: "You're right. It's time for me to take a holiday." Everyone in the room exhaled and relaxed a bit.

Hawk picked up a few of the brochures and looked at them. "I haven't had a real vacation in years." He intoned wistfully. "A fishing trip or Paris sounds good. I think I have a few weeks leave accumulated. I'm sure you guys can be counted on not to destroy the PIT for, say, two weeks." Hawk smiled.

"Sir! Yes, Sir!" the rest of the Joes yelled in unison, all smiling in relief.

Hawk pulled out his wallet. In it was his Air Miles Platinum Card. "I'm sure I have enough of these to take most of the team to Australia. First Class" Everyone laughed. "I'm sure we can figure out where I can go on my holiday!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Hawk's Holiday.**

**Chapter 3: Traveling.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GI Joe characters.**

_Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 72 hrs later._

Hawk had decided to go to the resort town of Banff, Alberta in Canada for his holiday. The town was located in one of, if not the largest national park in Canada. There were a lot of things to see and do, including; hiking, skiing, natural hot springs, golf, and other activities just the ideal place for a quiet, relaxing holiday, far away from the daily grinds.

Firewall checked to see how many Air Miles he actually had saved up. It turned out that Hawk had more than enough to get a decent room at a nice hotel, and a free rental car. They looked over the list of hotels and Hawk decided that he liked the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel a lot. It was an opulent, secluded hotel that offered fine dining and many other activities for the reasonably wealthy, late middle aged, American tourist.

So Hawk had her book a reservation, at the Fairmont Banff Springs under his real name, Clayton Abernathy. He kicked in a bit of his own money, but it would be worth it.

He decided to fly to Calgary, Alberta, and then drive the rest of the way himself. Firewall had already booked him on a First Class flight to Calgary. And a car or SUV would be there waiting for him.

Hawk packed up enough clothes for two weeks, including his best suit. He also packed his golf clubs, and swim trunks. He decided to leave his old, battered brown leather bomber jacket behind. He wanted to project the image of a man of leisure, not an Army General. He wanted to leave all his troubles behind for two weeks.

Before he left though, he had a bit of a row with Duke that went something like this:

Duke: I really think you should have booked under an alias, not to mention in a less opulent hotel.

Hawk: Duke, I am going on a vacation for heaven's sake. I'm not going on an undercover assignment.

Duke: You should take along a few Joes as bodyguards at least.

Hawk: (Sigh) I can take care of myself Duke. What do I have to worry about? Ski Bunnies and retirees? Bodyguards? Please.

Duke: You could at least take a gun with you.

Hawk: Duke! You know about all of the restrictions against taking firearms onto civilian flights! Not to mention a lot of the Canadian firearms regulations. For the last time, I am going on holiday. That's h-o-l-i-d-a-y, not a spy mission.

Duke protested further, but Hawk shut the door in his face.

Hawk got on an early morning flight the next day. Flint, Lady Jaye, Scarlet, Snake Eyes, and a still smouldering Duke saw him off at the airport. He arrived in Calgary in the afternoon and picked up his rental car, a Ford SUV. He decided to head into Calgary to pick up a few odd items, have a meal, and check into a hotel for the night before driving west to Banff.

He drove into the city to a few stores that sold camping equipment that a nice woman at the Airport information booth told him about, and even provided him with a map of the city. Fortunately the SUV he had rented came with a GPS unit and computerized navigation system.

He made his way through the city's downtown core, slightly amazed at the size of the city, considering the population was barely close to a million people. Hawk found the stores that the helpful woman indicated, delighted that they were all, more or less, on the same street. He purchased a pair of new fleece sweaters, a pair of sturdy hiking boots, several pairs of socks, a rucksack, and, just for the hell of it, a fedora and sunglasses.

He than walked down the street to a restaurant called the Keg Steakhouse and Pub, and went in for lunch. The people there were very friendly, something he was starting to like about Canadians. Hawk decided to turn his cell phone back on. They had asked him to turn it off when he boarded the plane. He figured Duke should have tried calling several times by now and should be fairly worried by now.

Sure enough, almost two minutes after he turned on his cell phone, it vibrated. Hawk checked to see if he was right. Yep, the number was the same as the one on the phone on Duke's desk. Hawk decided to have a little fun at his second in command's expense. He let it buzz for a few seconds before he answered.

"Hi Mom!" Hawk said with an impish grin on his face. The waitress came up with an inquisitive look on her face. "My old mother." Hawk said. "She really worries when I don't call." The waitress smiled and nodded in understanding.

"Sorry, Mom. I was just talking to my waitress. Yes, I'm having lunch now, a nice steak lunch. I'm fine, Mom. The flight was uneventful. Don't worry." Hawk was enjoying himself. Duke was getting a bit annoyed at being called 'Mom'. There were people giggling in the background on Duke's end. _He's using the speakerphone. _Hawk thought. Time to raise his blood pressure a bit.

"Yes, Mother I'll try to eat in moderation. I bought a nice couple of warm sweaters too; so don't worry about that Mom. Don't worry I'll be safe. Yes there are some wild animals up in Banff according to the brochure. I won't go near any of them Mom.

"I should go now, Mom. My waitress is here. Don't worry; I'll bring you back a nice present. Bye Mom, I'll call you later. I love you. Bye now." Hawk closed the phone on Duke's angry reply. Hawk felt a bit better. He turned back to the waitress. "What's the biggest steak you've got? I'm starved!"

Meanwhile, Duke hung up the phone with an annoyed expression on his face. Scarlet, Lady Jaye, Flint, Stalker, and Cover Girl, were trying, and failing, to keep from laughing at Duke. Duke figured that the whole base would know about this within 5 minutes of them leaving. He wondered what he had done to annoy God this time.

Hawk, after a wonderful lunch, and dessert, and a little walk through a few more local stores, went to a nearby Holiday Inn and got a room for the night. It was going to be a long drive to Banff tomorrow, and he wanted to be well rested. He could hardly wait for his holiday to begin in earnest.

When Hawk, settled in his room, he poured himself a drink and relaxed on the bed. It had been years since the last time he had been in Canada. He had been here before a few times while he was growing up. His parents had taken him on a few trips to various parts of the country.

Hawk had also visited Canada a few times since he had started leading GI Joe. The first time was just a few years after GI Joe was formed. He and a few others went to advise the Canadian Military and R.C.M.P. about the threat Cobra represented to international security. He met an attractive young female army Captain named Catherine LaCroix. She was a stunning redhead with bright green eyes and a great figure, not to mention smarts, and a great sense of humour.

She was there as an aide to the General in charge of Canadian Army Intelligence. He didn't seem to take the threat Cobra represented seriously enough, but she did. She asked insightful, thought provoking questions about Cobra that intrigued Hawk so much that after a few meetings he asked her if she wanted to have dinner with him. Happily, she said yes. They went out for dinner or drinks a few more times, but Hawk got called away for a mission to Alaska, where Cobra tried to sabotage the Alaskan Oil Pipeline.

They kept in touch for almost two years until Hawk went back for another conference with the Canadian Army Brass. The new head of Canadian Army Intelligence was a bit more worried about Cobra than his predecessor, as was his chief aide, Major LaCroix.

This time things got a bit more intimate between them. Things were going well until the formation of Cobra Island mess.

They met several more times over the years until she retired from the Canadian Army, with the rank of Colonel, and went into the private security business. Unfortunately they drifted apart, except for Christmas cards, Birthday cards, and the odd letter. Her last one indicated that she was now head of security for some company, but didn't mention which.

Hawk would have loved seeing her again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hawk's Holiday.**

**Chapter 4: Castles.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GI Joe characters. Colonel Cathy LaCroix is my creation though. **

The next morning, Hawk got on the road to Banff. It was a 2-hour plus journey through some of the most beautiful countryside Hawk had ever seen.

Open prairie, soon turned into picturesque mountains, as Hawk came to the entrance to Banff National Park. He drove in and stopped at a rest area before continuing on to the town itself. Not before he took an entire roll of film though.

The town of Banff was a nice, pleasant little town. It had an assortment of restaurants, shops, pubs, and hotels in town. He stopped for gas and directions to make sure he was headed in the right way.

He made his way through the lush forest, until he reached the hotel. Hawk was stunned at the sight of the hotel. Pictures did not do the place justice. It looked more like a _castle,_ instead of a hotel. In fact it was designed, according to the brochure, to look like an 18th Century Scottish Baronial Castle. He stopped and took several more pictures before continuing on to the front door. The doorman immediately summoned a porter for his luggage, and a valet to park his SUV.

Hawk was nearly overwhelmed by the sheer grandeur and opulence of the place. He had been inside the White House enough times, but this place almost put it to shame.

He signed in at the desk and he was quickly and politely shown up to his suite.

_Damn, Firewall had outdone herself when she booked this room for me,_ Hawk thought.

It was larger than the modest apartment he had in Washington D.C. There was a king sized four-poster bed, a desk, a large screen TV, DVD Player, stereo, and a big selection of movies and CD's too chose from. There was a fully stocked wet bar as well.

Hawk tipped the porter well, and started to unpack his luggage. He noticed something a bit odd about something in his luggage. He pulled out an odd shaped metallic object. Hawk frowned and searched his luggage thoroughly until he found several more pieces of metal and hardened plastic. Hawk knew what it was before he found the ammunition clips. _Damn Duke for being so fucking overprotective!_ He wondered how Duke managed to get the gun in his luggage, then he remembered that Snake Eyes offered to put his luggage into the van while Duke talked to Hawk back at the PIT before they took him to the airport.

Hawk pulled out his cell phone and was about to blast Duke for being a jackass and ordering Snake Eyes to put the gun in his luggage, but he stopped himself.

Duke was doing what any good second in command would do to ensure the safety of his commanding officer, and Hawk would do the same if the roles were reversed. Instead he called up Duke to inform him that he made it to the hotel safely, that he was fine, and thanked him for the "present" in his luggage. Hawk hung up before Duke could reply.

He sighed and assembled the pistol, a compact Heckler and Koch P7M13 9mm automatic. A compact 9mm pistol with a unique squeeze cocking mechanism in the pistol grip, which he could easily conceal at the small of his back in a holster, which was provided for this purpose.

Hawk decided to lie down for a bit before going downstairs for dinner.

_4 hrs later…_

Rested, showered, and dressed, Hawk came down to one of the restaurants for dinner. He figured that since Duke managed to slip a pistol into his luggage, he may have sent a few Joes to act as bodyguards as well. Sure enough he spotted four of them as soon as he entered the room.

They tried to be inconspicuous but Hawk managed to spot them anyway. The first two were posing as a young newlywed couple. The "husband", a young man with curly blonde hair and blue eyes, looked up and saw him, and immediately averted his eyes. His "wife" glared at him for less than a second before resuming their conversation. She was a tall, elegant woman with long brown hair tied in a single braid. These were two new recruits to the team known as Kamakura, an apprentice Ninja, and Sgt. Paige Adams, a sniper, respectively.

_I'll have to talk with the kid about proper tradecraft once we get home. _Hawk mused.

The other couple didn't acknowledge him as he went by. They appeared to be an older couple, on their second honeymoon perhaps? He was a large, burly man with long brown hair and glasses. She was an attractive blonde woman with short hair and an athlete's build. They were talking away in Russian. They were, respectively, Chuckles, the Joe's undercover expert, and Daina, a sniper from Czechoslovakia, formerly of the Soviet October Guard.

The headwaiter sat Hawk down and handed him a menu and wine list and made a few dinner recommendations. Hawk ordered a locally made ice wine and sat and perused the menu.

"Clay? Clayton Abernathy? Is that you?" a woman's voice asked.

Hawk looked up, startled and found himself looking at the face of an old friend from long ago.

"My God! It is you!" Colonel Catherine LaCroix, Canadian Army Intelligence (retired), exclaimed as she opened her arms to embrace him. Hawk, still a bit stunned, got up and embraced her.

"What brings you here, Clay?" Catherine asked.

"I'm here on holiday. What about you?" Hawk replied.

"Not much. I'm just the head of security for the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel." Catherine said with a grin, enjoying the look of utter astonishment on Hawk's face.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hawk's Holiday.**

**Chapter 5: Reunion.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GI Joe characters. **

"So, soldier boy, you're still with the army? Or have you gone into the private sector like me?" Catherine asked.

They had sat down together at Hawk's table and split the bottle of wine when it arrived. She ordered the baked salmon, in a white wine sauce, along with vegetables, potatoes, and salad. He ordered the roast beef, with a baked potato, vegetables, and a salad as well.

"Yeah I'm still with the army. I'm a three star General now."

"Really? Congratulations!" they touched their water glasses together as a toast. "So you're just here on holiday huh? And the two couples you were observing aren't Joes like I thought they were when I saw you walk in and look them over?" She added with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Damn! You've still got it!" Hawk said laughing. And she still looked beautiful after all these years. A little grey in her hair, and a few wrinkles, but she was still incredible to look at. And she was wearing an Armani suit, which meant that she was doing quite well for herself, thank you very much.

"To answer your questions: yes I am here on holiday. Yes, I am still the commander of GI Joe, and yes the four people you saw are part of my team. My overprotective second in command sent them to keep me safe." Hawk said. "What's your story?"

"Well, I said I was going into the private security business. I did the usual boring bodyguard stuff, and some private investigation work. A friend of mine told me that the Fairmont Hotel people needed a competent head of security to watch over their assets and VIP's here, so here I am. As you can see I'm not doing too shabbily." Catherine smiled.

"It looks like you're really doing great, Cathy. I'm happy for you." Hawk replied.

"Yeah it's a great job. I don't go around being shot at like you're used to being, but it has its moments." Catherine said.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Hawk inquired.

"Well, we had a few members of the Royal Family of Belgium here two years ago and…"

Unbeknownst to the happy couple, three men observed them from the other side of the room. These men, who we shall refer to as Larry, Curly, and Moe respectively, were low ranking members of Cobra. They looked like a busboy, a waiter, and a dishwasher respectively.

Well, in fact they were considered a bit of an embarrassment to Cobra.

They tended to screw up almost anything they did, even the simplest assignments that even a Dreadnok could do.

How they were still a part of Cobra, much less still alive, was anyone's guess. The fact that Larry's Father and Moe's Brother were high-ranking members of the elite Crimson Guard may have had something to do with it.

They were stuck here in Banff in order to report on the comings and goings of any important VIP that may show up.

Moe, the brains of the outfit, almost dropped the tray full of dishes he was carrying when the tall main with platinum blonde hair walked in.

"Holy Shit! Do you see who that is?" He whispered to the other two.

"Is he an actor? Kind of looks like one." Curly said.

Larry slapped him in the back of the head. "That's General Hawk you idiot!" He whispered harshly.

"Oh. Oh! Yeah! General Hawk! I knew that!" Curly said.

Slap. "I'll call my brother! He'll know what to do!" Moe said and called his older brother.

"What part of 'don't call me again' didn't you understand?" Moe's brother snarled by way of greeting.

"Listen! It's important! General Hawk himself just walked into the hotel restaurant!" Moe said excitedly.

"Bullshit!" his Brother snarled. "Prove it!"

"Ok, transmitting image now!" Moe had one of the new style cell phones that had a digital camera built in. He managed to get close enough to get a few pictures of Hawk, and now he transmitted them to his brother. He waited for a few minutes for his reply.

"Oh, my God! I don't fucking believe it! It is him! Keep him under observation, while I report this to the high command! I'll be there tomorrow night with some back up."

"Does this mean I didn't screw up?" Moe asked his heart swelling with pride.

"I guess not, for once! I'll be there tomorrow night. We're going to capture us a Hawk! Hail Cobra!"

"You mean to tell me that the Crown Prince of Belgium was streaking across the front lawn in broad daylight, in full view of everyone in the hotel?" Hawk was laughing so hard at Cathy's story that he was in tears.

"Yep took eight of us to restrain him, and cover him up. We had to haul his majesty's ass through the front lobby in front of the other guests! He went kicking and screaming all the way!" Cathy was laughing so hard her sides hurt.

It took them several moments for them to calm down. It didn't seem like a decade had passed since they last saw each other at all.

"God, I've missed you Clay." Cathy said, dabbing her eyes with a napkin.

"And I've missed you Cathy. Where did we go wrong?" Hawk said.

"I don't know. We both had our jobs to do in our own countries. All that stuff about honour, duty and responsibility to our country's security. Or maybe we're just afraid of commitment." Cathy said.

It was an unpleasant thought, but an accurate one.

"Enough of this maudlin bullshit! Eat your dinner. I want to show you around the place." Cathy said.

"Yes sir! Colonel, sir! " Hawk laughed. Cathy laughed and bounced a dinner roll off his head.

After dinner, the happily reunited couple went for a walk around the hotel grounds. It was a crisp, clear night for early November, and it was a little chilly. Hawk and Cathy didn't seem to notice. They walked along talking about their lives over the last decade, Hawk going on about the disbanding and reforming of GI Joe, and all the "fun" he had dealing with the Pentagon brass. Cathy talked about all of the more interesting people that she met in her line of work.

"Speaking of interesting people. What say we surprise the two that are following us?" Hawk whispered, indicating Kamakura and Paige Adams who were shadowing them while keeping up their newlywed act.

Cathy giggled. "Let's!"

Kamakura and Paige Adams lost sight of their charges in a cluster of pine tees.

"Aw, man." Adams groaned. "Duke's going to kill us if we lose Hawk now!"

"Tell me about it! Not to mention the fact that my master, Snake Eyes, will be angry with me for blowing our cover." Kamakura grumbled miserably.

"Aw come on! Did you honestly think we could have fooled Hawk for very long? And who is that woman he's with?" Adams asked.

"I don't know but they seemed like old…" A snowball hit Kamakura directly in the face. "Hey!" He sputtered. Several more snowballs hit him and Paige. Hawk and Cathy stepped out from behind their hiding spot. "Gotcha!" they both crowed.

Kamakura and Paige both glowered at the happy couple.

"Aw, don't worry kids. It happens to the best of us." Cathy smiled at them.

"Cathy LaCroix, meet Kamakura and Sgt. Paige Adams, two new members of GI Joe. This is Cathy. She's head of security here."

Kamakura bowed and Paige shook Cathy's hand. "I am pleased to meet you."

"We'll meet you along with Daina and Chuckles for breakfast in the morning at 0900. Now scoot. We adults need to talk." Hawk chuckled as the two young people walked away, muttering.

"So, General." Cathy asked suggestively. "Want to see my room?"

"I thought you would never ask." Hawk replied, before he kissed her passionately.

The happy couple went upstairs to Cathy's spacious suite. It was even bigger than the one he had.

"Damn! This room is almost bigger than the USS Flagg!" Hawk exclaimed.

"Oh, I'm sure that you'll be a lot more comfortable than on an aircraft carrier." Cathy said, slipping out of her jacket and boots and walking towards the bedroom.

"I'm sure I will." Hawk said taking his jacket and boots off and following her. She left several articles of clothing to mark her trail to the bedroom.

By the time Hawk got there, she was wearing a smile and nothing else. "Come on in soldier boy. And close the door behind you." She said, while lying back on the bed.

"My pleasure." Hawk replied. _Oh yeah, she's still got it!_ He thought as he closed the door.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hawk's Holiday.**

**Chapter 6: Plans**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GI Joe characters. **

The first rays of the early morning sun came peeking in through the blinds. Hawk woke up and looked around him, not knowing precisely where he was. The soft, curvaceous form beside him brought him back to reality with a soft jolt.

_Did what happened last night really happen?_ He thought. A soft moan from Cathy indicated that it did.

As quietly as possible, Hawk got out of bed and went into the bathroom. He was only mildly surprised to find a man's shaving kit there; it was a hotel suite after all.

Getting into the shower, he started to wonder about things. Was everything going to fast? He'd just been in town for one day, and he hadn't seen Cathy in years. Now he was taking a shower in her suite. Hawk pushed all of those thoughts aside as he was enveloped by the water and steam. The last several months of tension and general annoyance were slowly ebbing away.

His reverie was interrupted when a long shapely leg poked its way into the shower stall. It was followed by Cathy's equally shapely form.

"Morning, soldier boy. Sleep well?" Cathy said warmly as they embraced and kissed.

"Mmm, I'd say so. How about you?" Hawk replied.

"I slept well, considering what we were doing. Anyway, what time were we meeting the kids for breakfast?"

"I told them around 0900. What time is it now?" Hawk asked.

"I think it was 0615. That leaves us plenty of time." Cathy replied with an inviting look.

"True, wouldn't want to let this hot water go to waste now would we?" Hawk smiled and kissed her again.

_0930 hrs, Main dining room._

Chuckles, Daina, Paige Adams and Kamakura all met in the Hotel's opulent main dining room for breakfast. It was a large area that could seat several hundred people comfortably. It was set-up as a buffet so there were a variety of things to choose from.

"They're a bit late aren't they?" Kamakura remarked, glancing at a nearby clock.

"Hey, he's entitled. He is here on vacation right?" Chuckles replied.

"That is true." Diana said. "No need to send out a search team yet."

"Yeah, so just relax and enjoy your breakfast." Paige Adams said. "Man, Roadblock would love to work here. This is almost as good as his cooking."

"Oh yeah, this is way better than the usual army fare." Chuckles remarked.

"It is unfortunate that we will only be here for another few days. I could really get used to this place." Daina said, looking around the room in awe.

"Yeah, I could get used to this place too. I wonder if we could convince Hawk to set up a base here." Kamakura remarked. Everyone laughed a bit.

"I'm glad you all like the place." Cathy's voice remarked from behind them, making them all jump a bit. "Everyone here goes out of their way to make our guests feel welcome."

The others stood as Cathy and Hawk joined them at their table. Both of them were smiling happily. "Everyone get a good night's sleep?" Hawk asked.

"Yes sir." The four Joes replied in unison.

"Oh, relax. Since you're here you may as well enjoy yourselves. Lot's of things to see and do." Hawk smiled. "For instance, I haven't been cross country skiing in years. Cathy was going to show me a few of the better trails tomorrow. You're all welcome to join us."

"I've never, um, actually done any skiing before." Kamakura admitted sheepishly.

"Don't worry. From what Clay told me, you're a fast learner." Cathy said. "By the way do you have a real name? I can't keep calling you by your code name."

A man in a dark blazer who had a cell phone in his hand interrupted them. He apologized to everyone and then bent down to whisper something to Cathy. She frowned and stood up. "I've got to go. One of our guests is being a bit put out by the people next door. I have to go sort things out. I'll meet all of you for dinner here at 1800, ok?"

"Another member of Belgian aristocracy going streaking through the lobby?" Hawk asked with a grin as the others stared wide-eyed.

Cathy snorted. "I wish. This particular guest is even more of a pain than any aristocrat I've ever met. Later, Clay. Kids."

"So, what's on the agenda for today then, Hawk?" Chuckles asked.

"Oh, I figured I would take my camera and go for a bit of a drive around the place. Just normal silly tourist stuff. I don't think you would be interested." Hawk said invitingly.

"We would be glad to accompany you if you wish." Daina stated.

"Yeah, I've never been to Canada before. The pictures in the brochures or online don't do the place justice." Paige Adams said.

"I'm all for it." Chuckles added.

"Ok, I'm in as well." Kamakura said.

"Great! Finish up your breakfast, and then we'll pack a few things into my SUV and we'll get going." Hawk said with enthusiasm.

The four Joes were happy to see that Hawk was enjoying himself at last. Dealing with the bureaucrats, or 'bur-shit-crats' as Hawk called them, would drive anyone a bit crazy, if not outright homicidal. When Duke ordered them to secretly accompany Hawk, they all feared that they would have to deal with an enraged commanding General. But he seemed to be happy to have them along, so they weren't going to push their luck.

They discussed their plans as a waiter came by and cleared their plates away. They politely refused the offer of more coffee, gave him a generous tip, and went up to their respective rooms to get a few things for the trip.

Meanwhile, Larry, their waiter, ducked into a closet and made a call to Moe on his cell phone.

"Moe? It's Larry. I just heard Hawk and a few of his Joe buddies making plans for a trip around the place."

"Joe buddies? Shit! How many?" Moe asked.

"Four, two guys, two dames. One guy was a huge mother with a Hawaiian shirt on under his sweater. The one broad sounded Russian. The other broad was a cutie with long brown hair. And the other guy was a white guy with a Jap name like Kama-Sutra or something."

"That's 'Kamakura' you moron." Moe's brother growled. They had turned on the speakerphone on their end. "Kama-Sutra is… oh, fuck, never mind. Whose car are they taking?" He asked.

"They were taking Hawk's SUV." Larry replied.

"Good, we know which one that is. I'll send two Guardsmen to follow them around. You, Moe, and Curly can keep watching this LaCroix woman. I have an idea. Cobra Command was going to be sending up a pair of specialists. They should be here by midnight. We'll make our move tomorrow. Hail Cobra!" Moe's brother hung up.

Hawk and the four other Joes piled into the SUV and took off. They took a long leisurely route going into Banff. They made a few stops along the way to admire the scenery. All of them had traveled to far and exotic places, but this was probably the most beautiful.

Pristine snow covered mountains, acres of beautiful forest, and clean, fresh air surrounded them everywhere they looked.

They pulled into Banff a little after 1 PM and stopped at a local restaurant for lunch. Then they walked around the town for a while, checking out the sights, and picking up souvenirs and presents.

After a while they went up to the hot springs and sat and relaxed in the warm waters.

"Mmm, I could really get used to this." Paige Adams said dreamily.

"As could I." Daina said. "I have been to similar places in former Soviet Union. But I was mostly there as a guard or as 'window dressing' for some general." She shuddered at the memory. "I meant no offence Hawk." She added hastily.

"None taken Daina." Hawk replied. "Maybe I should phone Cathy and see if she's free to come up here."

"No need to call me. I'm here." Cathy stated as she approached the group who all jumped a bit. "Surprise!" She laughed a bit at their stunned expressions.

"How in the world…?" Hawk stammered.

"I have spies everywhere. Part of the total protection package we offer our VIP's. Besides everyone makes it up here eventually. That platinum blonde hair of yours does kind of stand out." She paused and looked at Kamakura. "You're staring kid."

"Sorry." Kamakura muttered. Hawk had to admit that the simple, blue, one-piece bathing suit showed off Cathy's amazing figure quite well. She came over and sat beside Hawk.

"So, how did dealing with the unhappy VIP go?" Chuckles asked.

Cathy rolled her eyes. "Oh, God. Don't ask. Typical politicians, they're worse than children, I swear. Me, me, me." She mocked in a high-pitched child-like voice. Everyone laughed knowingly.

"Oh, how well we know that." Hawk chuckled.

"So, are we still on for dinner later?" Cathy asked, changing the subject.

"Can't they serve dinner here?" Paige asked dreamily.

"Sorry, they frown on having food in the water here." Cathy replied.

"Damn! Oh, well." Paige smiled.

The six friends talked and laughed for a while longer, and then reluctantly made their way back to the hotel for dinner. The two Crimson Guardsmen, a man and a woman, followed them.

After a long dinner, the six friends went to sample some of the nightlife the hotel had to offer. First they went past one bar where it turned out to be Karaoke night. They sat and listened to some good, and some painful renditions of various pop songs. After one man did a particularly awful rendition of 'Lola' by the Kinks, Cathy went up to the microphone.

She proceeded to bring down the house by singing a wonderful rendition of Rita Coolidge's song 'All Time High' from the movie Octopussy. With a bit of prodding from the others Hawk went up next and sang a not bad rendition of 'Loosing My Touch' by The Rolling Stones.

Hawk then had Chuckles, Daina, Kamakura, and Paige Adams come up to the stage, saying that he had found a nice song for them. The four of them gulped and walked up to the stage like people awaiting execution. The song turned out to be 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen and the quartet proceeded to mangle it. Hawk and Cathy were almost totally out of breath from laughing so hard when the quartet came back to the table, glairing daggers at the couple.

"Oh c'mon it wasn't that bad, really." Hawk said, wiping tears from his eyes.

"Well until you got to the 'I see a little silhouette of a man' part anyway." Cathy amended, also wiping away tears.

"True. Then you all went way out of key." Hawk added.

The others grumbled a bit. They all had the same 'paybacks are a bitch' look on their face. Maybe making Hawk sing 'The Lumberjack Song' would do it. Not to mention videotaping it and making sure all the Joes got a copy. Yes, this could work…


	7. Chapter 7

**Hawk's Holiday. **

**Chapter 7: Interlude.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GI Joe characters. **

_Midnight, near a secluded cabin by the hotel._

A little while later, Larry, Curly, and Moe along with Moe's brother, a Crimson Guard Immortal, and four more Guardsmen waited for the Cobra specialists.

Just after midnight a night, black Hurricane VTOL came in for a landing in a small clearing. Two men disembarked from the aircraft and walked over to the group.

The first man was called Scrap Iron. He was Cobra's specialist in armour defeating weapons systems. The second was Wild Weasel, the head of Cobra's air force.

"Halt! What's the password?" One of the Guardsmen demanded.

"The mongoose too, must die." Scrap Iron replied.

"You have some pictures of Hawk and the other Joes?" Wild Weasel asked.

The CGI handed over the stack of surveillance photos. The two specialists looked them over with a flashlight. "Ok, that's Hawk all right, along with Chuckles, Daina, and Kamakura. The other woman must be new, did you catch a name?" Scrap Iron asked.

"Paige Adams." Moe replied.

The specialists filed the information for future reference. "Who's the redhead with Hawk?" Wild Weasel asked.

"Cathy LaCroix, the head of hotel security. She used to be a Colonel in the Canadian Army. Intelligence, I believe." The CGI replied. "We were planning to grab her and hold her in exchange for Hawk."

"Whereupon we stuff Hawk in the VTOL and take him to the Commander. This will make one hell of a Christmas present for him." Wild Weasel chortled.

"Don't get to anxious we still have the other four Joes to contend with." Scrap Iron stated. "Any idea if they're armed at all?"

"Not really." The CGI stated. "But at best, they may have managed to smuggle in a pistol or two in their luggage. A knife or two, that's it."

"Good. We have the advantage in firepower then." Scrap Iron smiled. The Guardsmen and the Cobra stooges each had an assortment of pistols, along with three FN P90 sub machine guns, two H&K G-36 assault rifles, 3 C-8 (or M4) carbines, one with an M203 grenade launcher.

Wild Weasel and Scrap Iron also had come prepared. Wild Weasel had a Glock 21 .45 automatic in a shoulder holster and an FN P90 SMG with him.

Scrap Iron had a Beretta 93-R 9mm machine pistol on his hip. He also had an H&K MP5K-PDW 9mm SMG. He also had his hand built portable anti-tank missile launcher with him.

"You guys did well. After we've delivered Hawk to the Commander, I'm sure he'll want to reward you personally." Wild Weasel stated.

The stooges, the Guardsmen, and the CGI were speechless. A reward from Cobra Commander himself! Maybe this would mean a promotion and a new posting somewhere really important. The possibilities were endless.

"Let's cover up the Hurricane, and get in out of the cold. We have a bit of work to do before we can grab Hawk. I want to get him back to Cobra headquarters by the end of the week. We'll keep watching them, and tomorrow we'll grab the woman, and exchange her for Hawk." Scrap Iron said.

"What if they call for reinforcements?" A Guardsman asked.

"We won't give them the time. We'll exchange Hawk for the woman by midnight tomorrow or we'll kill her. No way in hell they can get any reinforcements here in that time. And without a lot of firepower, they won't be able to rescue her." Scrap Iron laughed and the others joined in.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hawk's Holiday.**

**Chapter 8: Kidnapped.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GI Joe characters. **

_The next day 0835 hrs._

The six friends had gotten up early to enjoy a day of cross-country skiing. The hotel's pro shop had an ample supply of skis and other equipment for their trip, and they were soon on their way.

After a brief lecture about staying on the assigned trails, and warnings about avalanche dangers and encounters with local wildlife they set off.

It was a beautiful day to enjoy the Rocky Mountains in all their glory. The sun was shining, the air, was crisp and clean, with only a mild chill (about –6 degrees Celsius).

It took awhile for most of them to get used to using skis, some, like Hawk and Chuckles, hadn't skied in years. Kamakura hadn't skied since childhood and found it difficult at first, but he quickly got the hang of it. Daina, Paige Adams, and Cathy took several pictures of everyone, especially when they fell on their collective Asses.

Three hours of trekking through the forest trails later, they came to a quiet rest area. Cathy brought out a large Thermos flask of hot tea, Kamakura appeared to be meditating, Paige was taking pictures with a digital camera, Daina was quietly sketching a bit in a notebook, and Hawk and Chuckles just sat there and took in the view.

The view was spectacular. The mountains gleamed like polished silver in the late morning sunlight. Everything was just perfection, and everybody was at peace.

"Daina, I didn't know you could draw." Hawk remarked.

"It is something I don't get to do often." Daina replied. "But I have been sketching and painting since childhood."

"Wow, I'd love to see some of your work sometime." Paige Adams stated.

"You have. That painting of the Ural Mountains in my quarters you were admiring? That is my work." Daina smiled.

"That was your work?" Paige exclaimed. "Whoa, that is a beautiful painting."

"If you like it, it is yours." Daina stated simply.

"Wow, thanks. But maybe we should hang it up in the rec room where everyone can see it. With your permission of course Hawk." Paige said, glancing at Hawk.

"I've seen it. I would be glad to hang your work up in the rec room. It would really brighten the place up a bit." Hawk replied.

"Thank you General." Daina was moved by all the support she was getting for her work.

"I'd love to come by your headquarters and see some more of your work sometime. In fact seeing as I haven't seen some of the other Joes in years, I'd love to just drop in and say hello." Cathy remarked.

"We'd love to have you. I think a tour can be arranged. One of the little perks of being the boss I guess." Hawk said. Everyone laughed a bit.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I think we are being observed." Kamakura interrupted, his eyes snapping open.

"Are you sure, Kamakura?" Chuckles asked, looking around. "I can't see anyone."

"Someone is out there, and I don't think it's the local wildlife." Kamakura stated simply.

"Ok, then. Kamakura, Daina, and Chuckles. I want you to fan out and take a look around. It's probably another group of hikers. Sgt. Adams, you stay with Cathy and me." Hawk ordered. "But just to be on the safe side, are you all armed?"

All four Joes pulled out compact auto pistols. Chuckles had a Glock 30 .45 pistol, while Daina, Paige Adams, and Kamakura each had Glock 26 9mm pistols. Hawk pulled out his H&K P7M13. Cathy sighed. "I'm not going to ask where you got those."

"Old habits die hard." Hawk remarked.

"That's true." Cathy said, as she pulled out a Finnish made Lathi 9mm pistol that resembled an old W.W. II German Luger. Hawk looked at her with raised eyebrows. "You never know when the guests will get really rowdy."

"I guess not." Paige Adams stated simply.

"Stay sharp." Hawk ordered the search party. They nodded and moved into the forest.

Kamakura, Chuckles, and Daina stayed about 2 meters apart as they moved in. They used and signals to communicate. Daina, who was on point, gave the signal to halt, then the signal for 'enemy suspected'. They all crouched down and waited.

A short stocky man in a Cobra Viper uniform stepped into view from behind a tree almost 30 feet from Daina. He saw them, raised his M4 carbine and opened fire. The Viper emptied a full magazine of copper jacketed 5.56 NATO slugs at the Joes who barely managed to dive for cover. Daina recovered first. She came up in a crouch and opened fire. Six 9mm Hydra Shock rounds slammed into the Viper. Four rounds impacted with his armoured chest, knocking him down. The other two rounds tore through his left bicep. Three Siegies and another Viper stepped into view and opened fire, causing the Joes to fall back. The second Viper grabbed the first and dragged him away.

Hawk and the others heard the weapons fire. Sgt. Adams started to move but Hawk held her back. The three of them saw several figures moving around in the forest. Suddenly, a Crimson Guardsman with an FN P90 SMG stepped into view. The Siegie tried to raise his weapon but Hawk, Cathy, and Sgt. Adams raised theirs first and opened fire. Over a dozen rounds slammed into the Siegie, four of them to the head. He died instantly.

Several more Cobras opened fire. The three friends dove behind a large pile of logs. "This isn't going to hold for long." Sgt. Adams yelled over the gunfire.

"They could have killed us without breaking a sweat. They must want us alive." Cathy shouted.

"They want me probably." Hawk growled. "How much ammo do you have?"

"Not a lot, sir. 4 rounds left in this clip, and one more clip of 10 besides." Sgt. Adams said.

"I have 8 rounds left." Cathy stated.

"And I have 7." Hawk said grimly. He looked over at the fallen Siegies body. His SMG, grenades, and ammo seemed so close, but so far away. Any attempt to try and get them would be suicidal, given the amount of fire coming their way. He had to try anyway.

Cathy looked at Hawk and guessed at his intentions. "Don't try it Clay, you'll never make it. Besides, you never could run very quickly."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." Hawk said dryly. "It would beat sitting here and being shot."

"I can make it sir." Sgt. Adams said as she passed her pistol and ammo to Hawk and took off her jacket.

"Are you sure Sergeant?" Hawk asked.

"Yeah, just as long as you two cover me." Sgt. Adams replied.

"Good luck Paige." Cathy reached over and clutched Paige's hand.

"Thanks Cathy. I'm going to need it. On three then."

"One. Two. Three! Yo Joe!" Hawk shouted as he and Cathy came up firing. Paige started to sprint in a zigzag pattern towards the fallen Siegies weapon.

Suddenly, Scrap-Iron stepped into view with a big smile on his face and a 37mm Multi-round projectile launcher in his hands. He sent one round to land in front of Paige Adams and two more landed behind Hawk and Cathy.

The round in front of Paige exploded in a bright flash of light and sound. Adams screamed as she was knocked down.

"Paige!" Cathy screamed as the two rounds landed behind her and Hawk. The rounds began emitting a thick green smoke. Hawk and Cathy instantly doubled up in fits of gagging, coughing, and vomiting uncontrollably. Regurgitant gas! Hawk realized as he was overcome.

The last thing he saw was several figures moving in and grabbing Cathy before something hit him in the back of the head. Hawk heard Cathy screaming out his name before everything went black.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hawk's Holiday.**

**Chapter 9: Rescue.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the GI Joe characters. **

Several voices were calling out Hawk's name as he slowly came to. His head felt as though someone had used it as a baseball and had scored a home run. The pungent smell reminded him about the gas that Scrap-Iron used on him and Cathy. Cathy! Damn it where was she? Hawk opened his eyes and sat up abruptly. Bad idea. The pain made him close his eyes and lie back down again.

"General? General Hawk!" Chuckles spoke softly but urgently as he tried to roust Hawk. Hawk opened his eyes again, and saw Chuckles' worried expression.

"I gather than, Chuckles, that I'm not dead, and you're not an angel." Hawk smiled grimly and sat up again, slowly this time.

"No, sir. I'm afraid not sir." Chuckles was relieved as he handed Hawk a canteen of tea, with a dash of 'medicinal' Brandy in it.

"That's good. You would make an odd angel with those loud shirts of yours." Hawk remarked. "Sit-rep, how are the others? And did you see where they took Cathy?"

"Kamakura and Daina are helping Paige now." Chuckles pointed to the other three Joes. Kamakura helped Paige to her feet and all three of them came over, their faces grim.

"Are you all right sir?" Paige asked.

"I have a hell of a headache, and I've puked up everything I've eaten in the last 6 months. But otherwise I'm peachy. You?" Hawk replied as he stood up.

"I've been better sir. But I'm good to go." Paige stated with conviction.

"They took Cathy to the northwest. They left you this note sir." Daina said handing Hawk a large, slightly puke stained, Post-It note. Cathy's captors had stuck it to Hawk's chest after knocking him out. The note had a few lines printed in felt marker:

'**We have Colonel LaCroix. Come to the location on the map by midnight tonight, ****alone and unarmed, ****or the Bitch dies. ****COBRA!****'**

Kamakura held out a map of the area. The hotel was high lighted, as was a path to an area 10 km SE from the hotel. It was most likely a cabin and definitely a trap.

"Crap, God damn it to hell! If he called Duke right now it would take a bit of time to get a team together and get them and their equipment across the border. Like it or not he would have to make due with what he had in the time they had left.

What they had wasn't much he saw. They each had their pistols, plus Cathy's Lathi, which she dropped. Plus they had the two Cobra's rifles, an M4 Carbine, and an FN-P90. But they had no spare ammo. They were goatfucked.

Chuckles read Hawk's gloomy expression and smiled. "Don't worry sir, we'll get her back. Duke sent a 'care package' along with us just in case."

"Does 'care package' mean what I hope it means?" Hawk enquired, a hopeful smile spreading across his face. The others nodded in assent.

"What are we sitting around here for then? Let's get back to the hotel, double time! Yo Joe!" With that Hawk put his skis back on, grabbed his gear, and lead the way back to the hotel.

90 minutes later they arrived back at the hotel. Hawk had tossed his puke-stained jacket away before they arrived and they marched past the reception desk with no problems. Chuckles asked for a few boxes that had been sent to the hotel to be sent up to his suite.

Hawk stated that he was going to grab a quick shower and he would meet the others in Chuckles' suite in 20 minutes.

Hawk arrived at the suite, freshly showered and changed, and noticed a few men with two-wheel carts and a room service tray moving away. Before Hawk could knock on the door, Daina opened it up and pulled him into the suite and locked the door behind him.

They walked in and found the other three Joes opening up the boxes like kids on Christmas morning. But the stuff in these particular boxes would make any kid green with envy. Not to mention netting all of them long prison sentences if they were caught with them. All of the boxes had 'Fed-Ex' packaging on them, and labels declaring that the boxes were computer parts and had government stamps on them that told customs that they were not to be opened under penalty of law.

There was an assortment of pistols, sub machine guns, small sniper rifles, ammunition, knives, swords, and a few fragmentation and concussion grenades. There was also a bag of explosive goodies like a few blocks of Semtex (Czechoslovakian made plastic explosive), detonators, and a few of the aforementioned distraction devices. They would all be put away for life if they were caught with this stuff.

Daina handed Hawk a garment bag. "Duke said that you might appreciate this as well." She grinned.

Hawk opened up the bag to reveal his old, well-worn, brown leather bomber jacket. There was a set of black BDU's and boots as well. Chuckles handed him an armoured vest he could wear under his jacket. Hawk seriously considered proposing to Duke after this was all over. He went and changed.

After changing, Hawk gathered his weapons. First a .45 calibre H&K SOCOM pistol, with a laser target sight mounted under the barrel went into his hip holster. A nine-inch sound suppressor went into the pocket that normally held a spare magazine. A Ruger GP-100 .357 Magnum revolver with a 4-inch barrel went into a shoulder holster. An army issue K-Bar knife rode on his left hip. Several miniature fragmentation grenades and SAS style 'flash-bang' devices went into the thigh pockets of his BDU's. Finally he picked up a suppressed H&K MP-10, 10mm SMG. Several clips for each weapon were placed in various pouches. As an afterthought he stuck Cathy's Lathi pistol in a jacket pocket.

Chuckles, Daina, and Paige Adams all wore basic black BDU's (sans pearls) and carried an assortment of weapons. They all carried .45 cal SOCOM pistols and H&K MP-10 SMGs. Paige and Daina carried Enfield L96A1 Sniper rifles chambered for 7.62 NATO. Both rifles had night vision scopes, suppressors, and bipods attached to them. Chuckles also had a Remington 870 .12 gauge shotgun in a scabbard on his back. They also carried an assortment of grenades and explosives with them. All three wore lightweight body armour.

Kamakura was dressed in his forest green and black ninja outfit. He also had a SOCOM pistol, and H&K MP5K-PDW SMG. He also had an assortment of traditional ninja weaponry. Sheathed in a scabbard across his back was a ninja-do, the traditional sword of a ninja. He also had a cold steel tanto knife, several throwing stars, a set of nunchuks, and a pair of Kamas or fighting sickles. All of them had secure radios with earpieces and lip mikes. They all had night vision goggles as well.

They made plans over a quick meal and coffee, and then left the hotel through a rear exit. They climbed into Hawk's SUV and drove most of the distance to the cabin indicated on the map. They stopped at a secluded area and got ready to walk the rest of the distance. Paige and Daina would deploy to sniper positions while Hawk, Kamakura and Chuckles would make their way to the cabin. Each of them, except Kamakura, put on a black knit watch cap, and blackened their faces with camouflage paint. Kamakura covered his face with his mask.

It was past 2100 hrs and it was fairly dark outside. It was also getting colder, around –12 degrees Celsius.

Kamakura, who was on point, spotted the first sentry. He signalled for the others to stop while he drew his tanto. Moving silently as a cat he crept up behind the sentry, a lone Siegie. As soon as he got within range, he pounced. His left hand covered the sentry's nose and mouth, as his right hand drove the tanto blade into the side of the sentry's neck, the edge facing outwards. The apprentice ninja quietly lowered the corpse to the ground and motioned the others forward.

Daina spotted movement through her snipers scope. A second Siegie had stopped by a tree and removed his facemask and leaned his rifle by the tree. A lighter flared in the darkness. Daina blinked at the sentry's stupidity or overconfidence and zeroed in on his face. She waited for a moment, drew in a deep breath, and fired. The heavy 7.62 NATO round caught the smoker right between the eyes, and he slumped down to the ground. Daina nodded in satisfaction.

Another Siegie came out of the darkness. He had seen the glowing cigarette as well and had come to tell his partner to put it out. He found a glowing cigarette on the ground and stepped on it to put it out. Then he noticed the body of his partner. He shone the flashlight attached to his FN P-90 on his partner's body. He had a hole the size of a quarter in the middle of his forehead.

Siegie #3's last act was to try to raise his radio to his lips. Suddenly he felt a sledgehammer blow to his chest that literally broke his heart. The radio dropped from his numb fingers as he collapsed to his knees. He then pitched forward face first and stayed there. Paige clicked the transmit button twice to indicate that it was clear.

Hawk, Chuckles, and Kamakura approached the cabin. They spotted two more sentries, a man and a woman, pacing around outside in the cold under the porch light. All of the curtains were drawn inside, and only a few lights were on. They could only see a few figures moving about inside.

The log cabin was a simple one-story structure. There was a moderate sized living room, a small kitchen, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. A gas-powered generator that sat outside in a small wooden hut provided power. Several 45-gallon oil drums sat several feet away from the generator set.

Hawk motioned for Kamakura to take care of the male sentry, while he and Chuckles would try to take the woman alive if possible.

"Jesus Christ it's getting fucking cold out here." The male sentry spoke softly to his companion.

"Quit bitching Eric. Just keep moving a bit. It helps the circulation." The female said back.

"How can you stand the cold? I'm gonna be frozen before midnight!" Eric growled. "You got an extra sweater on underneath your uniform, Cassandra?"

Cassandra chuckled a bit at her companion's discomfort. "Just think about the big fat bonus we'll be getting for this. Not to mention our trip to the Caribbean, and all the fun we'll have there." Her voice took on a slightly suggestive tone.

"Can't hardly wait, babe. Wait! What was that noise?" Eric searched around for the source of the noise he heard.

"I didn't hear anything." Cassandra said looking around. She clutched her SMG closer.

"I'll go check it out. Wait here." Eric quietly moved off into the darkness, H&K G-36 at the ready.

Several minutes went by. Cassandra paced back and forth nervously waiting for Eric's return. She heard some kind of commotion; some kind of strangled gurgling noise, and then silence.

"Eric?" she whispered fearfully. She moved off in the direction Eric went in. 2 minutes later she discovered Eric's body. His throat had been cut from ear to ear.

"No! Eric, no!" Cassandra sobbed quietly. As she drew in her breath to scream, a pair of powerful arms reached out from the darkness and grabbed her from behind. One hand was placed over her mouth, and the other arm held her in a vice-like grip around her neck. She was taken around behind a few trees. Hawk stepped out of the darkness and aimed his suppressed MP-10 at her head. Cassandra's eyes widened in fear and recognition.

"If you scream, you die. Do you understand?" Hawk whispered hoarsely. Cassandra blinked and nodded as best she could with Chuckles arm around her neck. Hawk nodded and Chuckles removed his huge hand from her face.

Cassandra stared in terror at the GI Joe commander. With his face blackened, and the expression on his face, he resembled a demon from hell.

"How many of you are there?" Hawk demanded harshly.

"There were 6 of us Siegies plus our boss, a Crimson Guard Immortal. You killed Freddie earlier." Cassandra tried to spit in Hawk's face, but Chuckles gave her neck a squeeze.

"Who else?" Hawk demanded.

"Three Vipers, plus Scrap-Iron and Wild Weasel. That's it." Cassandra replied.

"Good girl. Chuckles, tie her up. We move in 5 minutes." Hawk said to Chuckles, who nodded.

Chuckles made the mistake of relaxing his grip a bit. Cassandra wiggled free and kicked Chuckles in the groin. He managed to protect himself by moving his leg, but she was still able to wriggle free, pull her knife and charge at Hawk, a scream rising to her throat.

"Shit!" Hawk muttered as he aimed his MP-10 and triggered a 3 round burst. All three rounds hit her in the face, shattering her skull. She collapsed to the ground at his feet.

"Paige! Daina! Anyone come out of the cabin?" Hawk whispered urgently into his lip mike. Kamakura and Chuckles jogged up quietly.

"No, sir." Paige replied.

"Nyet. No one has stepped outside." Daina replied.

Hawk breathed a sigh of relief. "Keep watching. We hit them in 4 minutes." Hawk signalled the other two to head to the back door.

"I don't like this. It's way too quiet out there for my liking." Wild Weasel growled as he paced back and forth by the front window.

Scrap-Iron was standing on the opposite side of the room. "Relax, the Joes got lucky earlier I'll admit, but we still have the advantage. Not to mention Hawk's woman."

Cathy was tied to an uncomfortable armchair. She had been gagged to keep her from screaming. Not to mention biting as one of the stooges had found out earlier.

The stooges were sitting together on a wide couch. Moe was loading a round into his M-203 grenade launcher, Curly was field stripping his Glock 21 pistol, and Larry was too doped up on painkillers to care either way. His left arm was heavily bandaged after Daina had shot him twice.

Moe's brother was also worried. "I'm calling the sentries for a report. It's been too long since any of them have called in." He lifted his radio and keyed the transmitter. "Sentry #1 report!" No answer. "Sentry #2?" Nothing. He frowned as he called the other sentries. When he got no reply from any of them, he threw the radio against the wall with a snarl of rage. "They're here! The Joes are here! The sentries are either dead or captured!"

"Fuck!" Scrap-Iron snarled. "You're right! They must be ready to hit the place…" A small explosion and the lights going out interrupted him.

"Shit!" Moe's brother screamed as he tried to make his way towards Cathy in the dark. He tripped and fell on her, knocking both her and him to the floor.

Hawk, Kamakura and Chuckles waited outside the back door. Hawk was on one side of the door, a Def-Tec distraction device in one hand, and pin in the other. Kamakura was on the other, MP5K-PDW at the ready. Chuckles aimed his shotgun at the door. The Remington was loaded with 5 frangible TKO slugs. The TKO slugs contained powdered zinc, which would disperse on impact, but not before it destroyed any locking mechanism or hinge.

"Go Chuckles!" Hawk roared. Chuckles blasted the door with two rounds from the shotgun, and then gave the door a massive kick. He leapt out of the way as Hawk rolled the Def-Tec into the center of the room. The device rolled in at the feet of the stooges as they tried to get up. Curly was trying to carry Larry over his shoulder and Moe was leading them. Cathy saw the device and closed her eyes tightly.

**KA-BOOM!** The Def-Tec exploded in a flash of over 1 million candlepower and over 180 decibels of sound. There was a loud crash as Wild Weasel went through the front window. Everyone else screamed in pain at the sound and noise. The Joes all roared **'Yo Joe!' **as they burst into the room.

Scrap-Iron had staggered over to the front window. Even with his protective goggles on his vision was still a bit blurry. He saw Hawk charge into the room followed by two other Joes. He tried to aim his SMG at Hawk.

Hawk and Chuckles saw Scrap-Iron raise his SMG and triggered their MP-10s. Several rounds tore Scrap-Iron's MP5K from his grasp. A few more 10mm slugs impacted with Scrap-Iron's Class III-body armour and knocked him through the front window.

A bestial roar almost made the three Joes jump out of their skins. The huge lumbering Curly had Larry over one shoulder and Moe under his other arm as he ran towards the back door. He charged past Hawk and Chuckles and nearly flattened Kamakura who barely dove out of the way in time. Curly ran through the door and into the night.

"Cathy!" Hawk shouted. "Where are you?"

"We're in here Hawk!" The CGI called out from the bedroom. "Why not come in and join us?" He called in a mocking voice. He had managed to drag Cathy into the bedroom in the confusion.

Hawk let his SMG hang by its shoulder strap as he drew the Ruger. "Kamakura, go out and circle around and see if you can surprise him from behind. Chuckles cover me." They both nodded, as Kamakura moved out, and Chuckles reloaded his MP-10.

Hawk and Chuckles moved into the bedroom. The CGI had cut Cathy free from the chair and was using her as a shield. One hand held Cathy, the other held a Glock 19 9mm. He had opened the bedroom window; cold air was blowing into the room.

"Its over. Let Cathy go and drop the gun. Now." Hawk stated calmly. He cocked back the hammer of the .357 for emphasis. Chuckles stood off to the side, MP-10 at the ready.

The desperate CGI aimed the Glock at Hawk. "Fuck you Hawk! Even if your buddy takes me down I'll still be known as the man who killed the great General Hawk!"

There was the loud noise of an aircraft engine starting up. The CGI turned his head in the direction of the noise. Cathy saw her chance and snapped her head back, catching the CGI in the nose. He howled in pain and fury and let Cathy slip out of his grasp.

He tried to aim at Hawk again, but Hawk beat him to the draw. The .357 round nearly decapitated the CGI where he stood.

Hawk put away his pistol and rushed to Cathy's side. He took her in his arms and removed her gag. "Are you all right?" He asked, while looking her over to see if she was wounded.

"Clay!" She cried out and threw her arms around him.

Several gunshots were heard from outside. And the aircraft noises had increased dramatically. Hawk, Cathy, and Chuckles rushed outside to see Paige, Daina, and Kamakura firing uselessly at Cobra Hurricane VTOL that rose up and took off in a hurry.

"Shit! Fuck! God Damn it!" Paige fumed. She couldn't believe that she missed the big lummox who rushed out the back door carrying two other guys, and now this! It wasn't her night.

Cathy rushed over and hugged all three of them. Then they all had one big happy group hug. "Thank you. All of you." Cathy said through her tears.

"You're welcome Miss LaCroix, I mean, Cathy." Kamakura said with a warm smile under his mask.

"Let's clean up a bit and get out of here." Hawk ordered.

They quickly doused the fire with snow and a fire extinguisher that Chuckles found. "What about the bodies?" Daina asked as they made it back to Hawk's SUV.

"Someone give me a cell phone." Cathy ordered. Paige got one out of her luggage and handed it over. Cathy dialled a number and rattled off something in rapid French. She hung up and handed the phone back to Paige.

"Who was that?" Hawk asked.

"A clean up crew." Cathy replied, amused at everyone's shocked expressions. "Hey, old habits die hard. Especially in our line of work."

"True, that." Hawk smiled and got into the SUV's drivers seat. Cathy climbed into the passenger side and the others got in the back.

Cathy stared a bit at Hawk as he started the engine. "Jesus, Clay. You're still wearing that old jacket?"

"Hey, I like this old jacket. Got it all nice and broken in. Having a good cleaner helps." Hawk said defensively.

"How do you know so much about Hawk's old jacket, Cathy?" Chuckles asked.

"Who do you think gave it to him?" Cathy replied sweetly.

"**WHAT?"** The four younger Joes all shouted together. Hawk and Cathy laughed.

"I guess this means we'll be going home now." Paige said sadly. She and the others had really grown to like the place.

"What do you mean 'we'll be going home now' I've still got a week of vacation time left!" Hawk growled.

"How are we going to stay here after what just happened?" Kamakura demanded.

"We were far enough away from the hotel, and behind a few mountains that no one heard much, if anything. And the clean up crew should take care of the mess. No one will ever know" Cathy replied.

"Yeah, and besides, I came here to enjoy a two week holiday, and I intend to do just that!" Hawk laughed and the others joined in. The six friends enjoyed the ride all the way back to the hotel.

Meanwhile…

The Hurricane VTOL levelled off at 30,000 feet. Wild Weasel sighed and hit the autopilot.

"Well, that was a total disaster." He remarked to Scrap-Iron, who was trying to take off his armoured vest. He got it off and checked himself over for damage. Finding none he sat back, relaxed, and closed his eyes.

"The Commander's going to be pissed." Wild Weasel said.

"Uh-huh." Scrap-Iron replied.

"But it wasn't our fault, right?" Wild Weasel asked.

"Nope." Scrap-Iron replied.

"We'll pin the whole mess on the CGI and those three losers, and we'll escape Scott free, right buddy?" Wild Weasel was starting to feel better.

"Sounds good." Scrap-Iron said.

"At least those three morons are dead with the rest of the Siegies. Thank heaven for small favours." Wild Weasel smiled.

Movement from the back of the plane cut off Scrap-Iron's reply. Both of them drew their pistols.

A canvas tarp fell away and Larry, Curly, and Moe were sitting there amid the cargo containers.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Scrap-Iron screamed.

Wild Weasel simply turned around, put his head down and sat there quivering while groaning; "No. No. No. No."

"We thought you guys would help us." Curly said.

"We needed someone to get us out of there, and to help take care of Larry." Moe added.

Larry just groaned in pain.

Scrap-Iron sighed and turned his back to the stooges. Wild Weasel just looked at him and nodded. Scrap-Iron quietly took the magazine out of his Beretta 93-R and replaced it with a clip of low velocity rounds that wouldn't go through the side of the plane.

"Don't worry. We'll take care of you. Real nice." Scrap-Iron smiled as he turned to face the stooges.

**Epilogue. The PIT.**

One week later Hawk and the others returned home from their holiday.

Hawk called ahead the previous day to announce that they were coming home and that Duke and the others should be there to greet them when they arrived.

Duke and the other Joes at the base were all ready to greet their CO when he arrived home. They were all gathered at the base of the hydraulic lift, waiting.

Finally a signal was given, and the lift started its slow ascent. "Atten-hut!" Beachhead barked. All of the Joes stood at attention.

The lift came down to reveal two SUV's. One was Hawk's the other belonged to Chuckles. The lift stopped and the doors opened. Hawk stepped out of the driver's side. He was wearing his trademark bomber jacket and three gold stars on each collar.

Duke looked a bit nervous. They had found his 'care package'. What the hell had happened?

"Order arms!" Beachhead snapped. Everyone saluted as Hawk got out and faced the team. Chuckles and the others got out of his SUV. They all saluted as well.

Hawk nodded approvingly. "At ease Joes." Everyone stood at ease, as Hawk walked up to his XO.

"The place is still standing." Hawk remarked looking around.

"Flint and I managed to keep everyone under control while you were gone, General." Duke said with a smile.

"Good to hear. I'll expect a full report from you and Flint tomorrow morning." Hawk replied.

"How was your trip, sir?" Duke asked.

"Oh, nothing unusual. A little hiking, some cross country skiing, some fishing, and a bit of hunting." Hawk smiled a bit. Duke tensed a bit. He didn't like how Hawk had emphasised the hunting part.

The passenger door on Hawk's SUV opened up suddenly. A pair of long, shapely legs came out, followed by the tall form of an attractive red headed woman.

"Duke, you remember Colonel Cathy LaCroix, Canadian Armed Forces, retired?" Hawk stated with a big smile.

"Duke! It's really nice to see you again. It's been awhile." Cathy smiled at the surprised Duke. She waved at the other Joes who were almost as surprised as their XO was. Chuckles and the others grinned.

"Colonel LaCroix, a pleasure as always." Duke shook hands with Cathy. "What brings you here?"

"Oh I was just working at the hotel when Clay here walked in. He invited me to come see your new place, and here I am." Cathy grinned.

"Shall I arrange guest quarters for Colonel LaCroix, Hawk?" Flint asked.

"Nah. That won't be necessary." Hawk smiled. Duke flushed a bit. "Oh yeah, we brought you back a souvenir. Paige?" Hawk motioned to Paige Adams who dug out a large, gift- wrapped package and presented it to Duke with a flourish.

"Are you going to open it or what?" Chuckles asked with a grin.

Duke eyed the package warily before he opened it. Inside was a hatbox. He opened it carefully, fully expecting it to blow up in his face. When it didn't explode, he reached in and pulled out the object inside. It was a Crimson Guardsman's helmet!

Duke stared at the helmet in astonishment. Then a flashbulb jarred him back to reality. Cathy stood there with a Polaroid camera and an amused expression on her face.

"See, Clay. I told you he'd like it." Cathy, Hawk and the other friends laughed as Duke stood there looking stunned.

"I'll tell you all about it later; meanwhile I'm going to show Cathy around the place." Hawk grinned. "Dismissed." He added.

Duke was still standing there looking shocked when Hawk added; "By the way, I appreciated the 'care package' and the company. But next time tell me first, ok?"

Flint came up to the happy couple and the befuddled XO. "How long will you be visiting us, Colonel?"

"First, call me Cathy. And second, I'll be here for two weeks. An old friend showed up and told me it was time for me to take a holiday!"

Hawk, Cathy, and the others walked off, leaving Flint there with a big grin on his face, and Duke standing there with a Crimson Guardsman's helmet in his hands, and a stunned expression still on his face.

_This is going to be an interesting two weeks!_ Flint thought as he steered Duke out of the room.

** The End.**


End file.
